Seafood Watch: A program overview and assessment of the key factors limiting environmental sustainability of global fisheries

Seafood is a key element in global food systems, necessary to the billions of people who depend on marine species for nutrition and livelihoods. But achieving environmental sustainability for wild-caught fisheries and aquaculture operations has proven a challenge as global demand for seafood continues to grow. The Monterey Bay Aquarium (California, United States) Seafood Watch program provides science-based information to help people and businesses make responsible seafood choices. They do this with a Green-Yellow-Red rating scheme, where a red rating is an alert to consumers and businesses to consider the consequences of their purchase on the species and ecosystem that species inhabits, as well as on human health and well-being. The program currently provides environmental sustainability ratings for more than 80% of the domestic and imported seafood on the U.S. market. To better understand the key factors limiting environmental sustainability of this food source, we used a dataset of Seafood Watch assessment scores for wild-capture U.S. and international fisheries. By summarizing scores related to target fishery species, other captured species, management effectiveness, and habitats and ecosystems, we provide insight into whether and to what extent existing management tools are well-suited to addressing the major challenges that prevent fisheries from receiving yellow and green ratings. The analysis showed that negative fishery bycatch outcomes are driving low Seafood Watch ratings for both U.S. and international fisheries, highlighting the need to expand bycatch reduction and population recovery efforts globally. Inadequate management or a lack of information regarding the effectiveness of management of both target species and bycatch is also driving red ratings for international fisheries. On this front, efforts to bolster data collection and monitoring, and international cooperation to facilitate ecosystem-based fisheries management can provide an effective means to enhance fishery sustainability. We conclude that improvements in global seafood sustainability are possible using currently available policy tools and proven solutions. However, we must increase the pace at which change in the system is realized, as well as explore novel, collaborative approaches to ensure the long-term sustainability of ocean-based foods.